My boyfriend and I just go back from vacationing in LA a few weeks ago. We got such a great feeling from the city that we toyed with the idea of living there at some point in the future. I know a lot of you live in LA. The city seems so vast it’s amazing! Why do you all like it? Or if you’re not so crazy about it, what are your experiences?
I lived in the LA area (Long Beach) for about 5 years.
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Horrible land use planning - urban sprawl, causing
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Traffic, causing
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Inefficiency - wasted time, causing
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Stress and frustration, and
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Smog
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Generally a kind of dirty look and feel to it. Litter. Brown signs that were originally white, etc.
Also:
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Cement riverbeds
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Not many people there seem to know anything about California beyond the LA Basin
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More superficial people generally speaking
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Little cohesiveness, little local pride/identity - probably because many people there are originally from somewhere else, and that it’s a relatively young area. It really didn’t take off until WWII.
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They’ve paved over their history - except Olvera Street (see #10)
If I think of any more, I’ll post them here.
If you would like to live in SoCal, I suggest San Diego County, Ventura County, or Santa Barbara County. However, those areas seem to falling into the same land use plan that LA/Orange County has. I don’t understand why.
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The L.A. County Museum Of Art, while still worthwhile, has a bad history of pissing off donors and losing promised major gifts. Armand Hammer pulled his stuff out and built his own museum in Westwood. At least we still have that one. But Arthur Gilbert pulled his absolutely world class, top flight collection of mosaics and decorative art and established his own museum in London. To be fair to our museum, I think Gilbert was wrong to promise the donation and then withdraw it. He was expecting more in the way of exhibition space than a U.S. county funded museum could afford, and his action punished all of us who live here and care about the museum.
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Did someone mention the too-dry weather?
I love/miss L.a!
Loves:
- stuff to do… always. 3 am? no problem.
- Variety
- always sunny
- Size. I like to simply drive around at night to clear my mind. A leisurely drive through L.a never ceases to show me new places.
Dislikes - smog
- traffic
- laughable mass transit
I’ve been living here ten years now. Yeah, it’s got its problems, as does any large city (and I imagine, any city of any size). A few things I love about L.A., though:
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The weather. “Oh, but don’t you like variety? Don’t you miss the rain and the snow?” Pffft. I grew up with cold, snowy, wet and miserable weather. I’ll take sunny and 70 year round, thankyouverymuch.
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Location, location, location. In the winter, I can drive less than two hours and be in the mountains, and go skiing, if I want to. Or, I could also go twenty minutes the other way and be lounging on the beach at the ocean. I can drive a few hours south and be in Mexico (which comes in handy for those pesky brushes with the law! :D). I can just start driving up Highway 1, and see some of the most amazingly beautiful scenery in the States.
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Diversity. Southern California has an amazing mix of people. Driving down Wilshire Blvd. into the city makes me happy, seeing all the signs in Korean, Mexican, Japanese, and a number of other languages I don’t even recognize, just to skim the surface. And the variety of restaurants this brings us is wonderful. Yeah yeah, a city like New York also has a wide variety of peoples and restaurants. See reasons #1 and 2.
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There’s ALWAYS something going on. Always something to see or do.
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No matter how limited a realease it has, every released film is playing here, somewhere (very important to film buffs).
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Canter’s Deli is open 24 hours.
Just off the top of my head.
Things about L.A. I’m not crazy about:
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The smog. But, to be fair, even in just the ten years I’ve lived here, the smog problem has gotten noticeably better. Yeah, it still has a way to go, and there are still some days that I look over at the Santa Monica Mountains and there’s an ugly grey haze hanging over them, but those days are becoming fewer and fewer.
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The traffic. Especially the 405 freeway. Luckily, my usual commute consists of walking across the street.
I love LA.
Great, great food, with amazingly diverse choices – from Dim Sum like you’d get in Hong Kong (or San Francisco), to Thai, Korean, Ethiopian, Japanese, Spanish, Mexican (of course), French, Italian, Vietnamese, and on and on.
Movies, movies everywhere. All the movies, the first week they come out.
Great underground music scene, and great aboveground music choices.
The Hollywood Bowl.
The Pacific Ocean.
The beach.
The 10 mile long bike path along the beach.
The Langer’s No. 1 pastrami sandwich.
The Getty Center
Great hiking in the Santa Monica mountains.
Amazing weather (dry, as in it rains very little, but not dry like the desert – the ocean breezes keep a nice humidity).
LAX – direct flights to almost everywhere.
Other than the Pacific Ocean, it is sometimes difficult to find the best parts of L.A. The best Korean barbeque that I know, for example, is squeezed into an ugly block of Pico Boulevard, across the street from a huge mall. Two of my favorite Italian restaurants are contained in otherwise unremarkable office towers. If you didn’t know of these places, you would not be likely to find them.
The negative things people say about L.A. are based in truth, but like most things, are overstated.
“The people are so fake.” Well, sure, some people are fake. Many big cities have their fair share of fake people. Personally, I don’t encounter too many fake people, and I don’t hang out with any.
“The traffic is horrible.” Yes, it is. There are a LOT of people in this town, and when they are all trying to get somewhere at the same time, it sucks. The trick is to work in a nice area, and live close to work. I personally would rather live in an apartment close to work than in a house with a long commute. So I live in West L.A., and work in West L.A. I have a 5 minute commute. Another trick is to learn the surface street alternatives to the often stalled freeways. Traffic can suck, but that is not a uniquely Los Angeles phenomenon anymore – Atlanta, Seattle, San Jose, Washington D.C., San Francisco all have bad traffic.
“The gangs, the crime!” Hey, it’s a big city, there are some very rough neighborhoods. If you’re smart, you shouldn’t have any more problems than in any other city in the country. I’ve never had a problem.
“The smog!” L.A. got its “smog city” reputation in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. It is a much, much better today (as shown here, there has not been a stage 1 alert since 1998). The air gets pretty bad in certain inland areas, it is true. But if you live near the ocean, smog is not an issue.
“You have to have a car!” This is, unfortunately, true. To enjoy living in Los Angeles, you need a car. The bus system is getting better, but, really, it sucks. The metro lines are great, if you live near one, and want to go to the few places that it runs to. Otherwise, forget it.
“It’s so ulgy!” Well . . . it’s an acquired taste. The ocean is beautiful, I think. Malibu, the Santa Monica mountains, beautiful. Pico Boulevard? Ugly. Sunset Strip? Depends on your mood. I agree that there are a lot of ugly places – arriving at LAX and driving to Disneyland takes you past a lot of them. It is not San Francisco, or Sydney, Australia. Like I said, the best parts of L.A. are hidden, and take some work to learn about – Griffith Park, some of the hidden beaches in Malibu, Will Rogers Park. Mullholland Boulevard just after sunset.
For me the positives well outweigh the negatives. It is a great city to live in.
And, on preview, what Anamorphic said!
And I say the same thing about your post! Well said.
I’m curious about the Korean bbq place you mentioned. What is it? My favorite Italian place, while not in an office tower, is in an unremarkable strip of shops on La Cienaga, south of Wilshire. It’s called Cafe Carrera, and it’s fantastic. Another one of those, “if you didn’t know it was there, you’d never notice it” kind of places.
I hate L.A., or “Los Hideous”, as I like to call it.
Primarily, I don’t like the weather. Too hot most of the time. Not enough rain. Sun is okay, but not when you have to deal with it every day for nine months at a time. (Only a slight exaggeration.)
Traffic is horrible. True, there are stretches where you can drive 75 mph (and you’d better!), but every day the 405 gets jammed up by LAX, and every work day the 22 gets jammed up by “The Orange Crush” (there’s a reason why it’s called that).
Public transportation is lacking. There are no trains on the West Side, and busses are slow frequently hot and crowded.
Parking is at a premium.
Housing is expensive. Rent is expensive.
If you want to go to the mountains it takes two or three hours to drive there. Too far away.
On the plus side:
When I want it to be hot and dry, I can almost always count on it – even in winter. Today, for example, it’s in the mid-70°s and it’s the middle of winter.
If I weren’t working I could take my kayak out to the marina and paddle out to the ocean without having to bundle up too much. (On the other hand, there’s not much to see – unlike Washington with its many islands and wildlife.)
Motorcycles are allowed to “lane share” – that is, we can drive between lanes of traffic. No traffic jams!
Good flying weather, and a large number of FBOs from which to rent and a fair number of airports to fly from.
Ethnic food. Mexican food here is better than I’ve have in Washington or Louisiana. Lots of Thai, Vietnamese, and Indian food. Or whatever else you want. Cuban? Got it, and it’s good. Ethiopian? Yup.
But overall, I’d rather live someplace cooler and wetter. (When I was in Northern Washington a couple of weeks ago it was a pleasant 50° during the day, and it even drizzled! 
)
I grew up here but am well-travelled, so here’s my 2 cents.
If you like cold, rainy weather, you will probably not like it here. We are a desert (the trees and grass you see are carefully maintained) and we are in drought most years.
The food is fantastic, both in quantity and variety. So are the people.
Within about 2 hours maximum from anywhere in SoCal, I can be skiing in the mountains, surfing at the beach or hanging out in Hollywood. A little more drive-time, and I can be in Mexico, Arizona, Nevada or San Francisco.
The smog is not that bad anymore. I know, I was here in the 1970’s, when you had to wear a wet washcloth as a breathing mask AT THE BEACH.
OK, so there’s lots of traffic. Deal with it. And there might as well be NO public transportation system.
We have most of the stuff other great cities have- museums, arts, recreation. We may not have the best of each, but the layperson won’t be disappointed.
I love it!
Continuing the hijack:
It’s called Gyu-kaku, and it’s on Pico, just west of Westwood Boulevard, across from the Westside Pavillion. Oh man, it’s good. It’s the type of place that has the barbeque grill in the middle of your table, and you cook your own. They also have a great spicy noodle soup, and a spicy chicken and rice dish that is delicious. And some really good cold sake. It’s also tiny, and popular, so get there before 6 unless you don’t mind waiting a bit.
For desert you can order s’mores – they bring you graham crackers, chocolate and a couple of marshmallows to roast over the grill!
Lived in LA for 12 years before moving to Las Vegas.
I loved LA…
Although technically I lived in West Hollywood. It is one of the very few parts of greater LA where you really don’t need a car on the weekend…shops, theaters (movie and legit), bars, restaurants, supermarkets are all within walking distance.
But you will need a car in LA…you’re dead in the water without one.
I met great people, loved the weather, loved the food, the beaches, films, the fact that you can bump into Brad Pitt in the supermarket and the neighbor next door is a writer for Friends and…well, it is the whole film scene/musicians/artists…
On the downside, rents have gone up and buying a condo or house is simply out of the question unless you win lottery or write a script that sells. Car insurance is high as well.
Traffic started to suck more and more…it used to take me 45 minutes to an hour to drive 7 miles to work going down Santa Monica Blvd at rush hour. Longer if there should be an accident or, godforbid, six drops of rain. The same drive, late at night, took about 15 minutes.
But I loved the 12 years I lived there, have no regrets and, if it weren’t for impossible real estate prices, I could easily see me living there today.
BTW, you didn’t say how old you are, but let me assume you are in your 20’s…then by all means, GO! LA is a young town, you will be more inclined to put up with a “funky” apartment until one or both of you makes the big bucks, and there is no better age to attack LA (or NYC for that matter) than in your 20’s. Do it now, or you will regret not having given it a shot…and if you don’t like it, you can always move away!
I love Lower Akron…
Oh, you mean the other L.A.
Ahhh… OK, I lived in Burbank from 1987 to 2000. commuted to Orange County every day. Got used to the drive, enjoyed the diversity of the concrete.
I miss…
FOOD!!! the Best restraunts in the world are in LA!
My dear friends
the local SCA and historical Renn-Faire nutballs, many are those dear friends I mentioned.
My first church, where I found God.
Movies, as mentioned by the above poster, for a movie-buff it can’t be beat.
The Sherlock holmes society I belonged to.
L. A. seems to have more job opportunities than other areas.
I don’t live in LA, but I’d like to. I went for a week a couple of years ago to visit my brother and I had a blast.
The weather rocked. 95 degrees is not hot if there’s no humidity.
There’s tons to do. Well, that’s true of most cities, but I certainly enjoyed the variety there and I was highly impressed. During my week stay the problem wasn’t figuring out what to do, it was deciding what I wasn’t going to have time to do. I did some of the touristy stuff, hit Disneyworld, took in a Dodgers game, went to the Getty, gawked my way down Venice Beach, etc., and my brother who’d been living there for a little while would take me to some of the spots he liked to hang out at that most tourists probably wouldn’t find (I’m dying to remember the name of the English restaurant we went to).
Your women are hot. Actually I think I can say the same thing for my area, but the big difference is that the women around here bundle up like Nanook of the North for the winter so you don’t get to appreciate it year round.
Most of the complaints about LA don’t bother me one bit.
Bad traffic? Don’t care. I grew up in the Balt/DC area and I’ve grown inured to it. As long as you’ve got some good music in the car it ain’t no problem.
Smog? Chain smoker. Fresh air’s overrated anyways.
Have to have a car? No prob. I love to drive and only take public transportation once in a blue moon, and would have no problem getting along without it.
People are fake? I couldn’t tell, so either I’m really gullible or that’s overstated. My guess on LA having a reputation for fakeness is that LA is pretty much the home to the entertainment industry, and that’s always had a lot of fake people in it. Anytime any actor goes on TV they bitch about how fake LA is; well, yeah, if all the people you interact with are in the entertainment industry I suppose that it might seem that way, and thank you for promoting a negative stereotype.
The few complaints I do have are relatively minor.
I didn’t care for was how weak radio was in LA. My brother lived in Thousand Oaks, so driving from there to downtown involved losing a lot of signals in the mountains. The music played on most stations sucked; there was one station that I swear had in its mission statement that they had to play the BOC and the Doors every two out of three songs. The infamous KROQ? Overrated, it was a talk station that played the occasional song (and rarely a good one).
It’s not the Mid-Atlantic seaboard. I know, seems kind of nitpicky, but here in Maryland we’ve got greater variety in terms of terrain (the ocean, lakes, forests, wetlands, mountains (don’t laugh, they are), etc.). We’ve got two great cities right next to each other and NYC, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are all within a days drive, as well as other great destinations like Myrtle Beach (golf capital of the world) and a bunch of amusement parks. I’d definitely miss the Smithsonian and other assorted Museums in DC. Still, SoCal can’t be sneered at, its variety is pretty incredible as well.
Ultimately I’d love to live in LA for a few years, but ultimately I’m gonna die in Maryland.
My girlfriend lives in LA, and that’s about the best thing about that city.
It’s got its nice parts, and when you add them all up, you have a fantastic city. The problem is, it’s all so damn far apart! I love renting a motorbike and cruising the Canyons around Malibu (hi Johnny LA and Spiny Norman :D), it’s truly beautiful. But to get there, you have to ride more than an hour of pretty intimidating freeways of poor quality, filled with rather agressive drivers. It’s not that I’m sheltered: I live in Amsterdam, a city known for its hectic traffic. But LA takes the cake! Plus, after a day of riding in an open face helmet, you can peel the smog right off your face. Ugh. I brought my full face with me the second time.
The coast is pretty, but the beaches are boring, IMHO. Long, straight, uneventful. Unless you go further south, where variety increases.
I have to agree on the restaurants: the sheer variety is amazing. Truly a city of the world in every way.
Would I live there? Preferably not. From what I’ve seen of the US and California in particular, I’d prefer San Diego over LA anyday of the week.
Anamorphic has pretty much gotten it right. I was born and raised in LA (or rather, a suburb close to LA) and I never got the whole, “But I need seasons!” bullshit. Especially since I moved to Hooterville (not an eager move on my part, let me assure you) I realize what a miserable, nasty thing Winter is. I can only tolerate it, never enjoy it. I remember my days in LA where Christmas day meant you had to wear a sweater. Damn, I’m homesick.
And yes, all the movies come to LA, by hook or by crook. If a film wants to be considered by Oscars, it has to show in LA, for at least a week. Also fun for movie buffs: the unpredictable presence of big trailers and big lights on any street corner at any time. You never know when you are going to stumble upon a TV show or movie filming. It’s fun to hang out a bit and see what they’re up to and maybe get a glimpse of some famous people once in a while. (I used to go to a college that was often used as a “double” for some important-looking building in TV and movies. I swear, they were shooting something down there almost every week. It got to a point where I considered the film crews to be an annoyance!)
Yes, there’s always something going on, and most things that you want or need are available somewhere. I have particular tastes in art supplies and in music. I was first astonished and annoyed that I could not get these things in Hooterville. How I concede defeat and do mail order. In Hooterville, mail order is your friend. In LA, it wasn’t like that so much. I did mail order for convenience, not out of necessity.
You are so close to so many beautiful places in LA. 5 hours from Yosemite (of course!). A few hours up the coast has the most beautiful scenery ever. You can never leave the state of California and see an amazing variety of scenery and things.
I don’t miss the hectic freeways here in Hooterville, (where “rush hour” is a slight increase in traffic, or at least it seems to me), but they drive like nuts out here too (in some cases worse than LA drivers), so I guess you can never escape that. Growing up in LA I never knew anything different—I planned my life and my schedule around the freeway traffic and just accepted it as normal. I did not get caught in one of those horrible unmoving-in-a-sea-of-cars kind of traffic all that much. I planned around such traffic. It helped that I never worked downtown, too.
Disneyland. Nothing compares to a Disney theme park. It’s true!
[points and laughs]
I have a lot of friends in L.A., and was actually considering moving there someday, but this thread has all but changed my mind . . . For one thing, I hate driving. Haaaaate it. I also love gorgeous old architecture, which L.A. seems to lack. I’m not a beach person or a mountain person or a foodie . . .
But the last straw was: “My first church, where I found God.” God’s living in L.A. now? Just my luck, I’d get him for a neighbor—or worse yet, a landlord!
Thanks for all the responses! One thing I did notice after talking to locals is that even thought the general cost of living is much higher than the midwest (where I am currently) the wages and salaries seem to be about the same as here. I would have thought that wages would have been much higher. Honestly, I don’t know how the average joe would make it in LA.
When we were there the weather only got to about the mid 60’s/cloudy. Sounds like the weather is awesome right now!
As a lifelong (37 years) resident of L.A., I will say this about smog. It is so much better than it was when I was a kid. And I grew up in the San Fernando Valley, where the smog used to be thick enough to cut with a knife.
Most of what people don’t like about “smog” is the haze that makes it hard to see the mountains. But truly unhealthful air quality doesn’t happen very much at all anymore. Gross looking air happens a lot, but it’s not necessarily unhealthy. It’s just not aesthetically pleasing.